Last month, IQTalent Partners’ leadership attended Launch Tennessee’s annual 36|86 meetup held in the Eventbrite Headquarters in downtown San Francisco. 36|86, named for the longitudinal coordinates of Nashville, endeavors to unite investors, talent and opportunities that have some sort of connection to the growing startup community in the southeast.The event gave some of the startups from around Tennessee the opportunity to talk about their businesses and their unique place in the market, many of which were there seeking either additional funding or great people to join their companies.
Tom Milic, Co-founder and Managing Director of IQTalent said that the event was one of the best networking opportunities he had ever been a part of:
“Because everyone there had some sort of connection to Nashville or Tennessee in general, so you had that icebreaker for the conversations, versus other networking events where there’s no consistent theme. It was an easy icebreaker, got the conversation flowing, and everyone was relaxed because of that.”
The event is indicative of a larger pattern of growth in Nashville, and a culture that is increasingly linked to Silicon Valley—in 2015, more than $280 million was invested in Nashville startups, bringing the total investment since 2012 to almost $1 billion. The city’s appeal can be attributed to a wide array of things: the lack of state income tax, relatively low cost of living, small town friendly vibes, or fast growing population. Whatever the cause—people are undoubtedly beginning to take notice—Southwest Airlines has been offering nonstop flights from Oakland for nearly a year, and in December, United Airlines announced they would begin offering nonstop flights from San Francisco this summer.
With the bulk of its research branch located in Nashville, IQTalent Partners is uniquely positioned to build relationships with companies that are trying to attract talent and grow their businesses in Nashville, or the southeast in general. Associates have a deeper understanding of what attracts talent to the city, as well as the extra benefit of personal networks and community involvement in the city.
